


"Gold's Kitchen" part two

by mrgoldsdearie



Series: "Gold's Kitchen" [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Once Upon a Time Fusion, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-12
Updated: 2014-09-12
Packaged: 2018-02-17 04:13:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2296205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrgoldsdearie/pseuds/mrgoldsdearie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hell’s Kitchen: AU - There’s a pasta challenge in Hell’s Kitchen and one chef is awarded as the winner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	"Gold's Kitchen" part two

**Author's Note:**

> I didn’t mention in the notes of the first part, that the idea of this fic came from when I found out that Gordon Ramsey’s dog is named “Rumple.” anonymousnerdgirl suggested that we needed a Rumbelle AU of Hell’s Kitchen and I quickly jumped on the idea. I just want to thank her for that and also thank my beta ripperblackstaff. Please let me know what you think. *Happy Reading*

After a rough dinner service and an elimination, Belle French has a difficult night. Her best friend in the competition, Neal Cassidy, was just sent home. She spends most of the night sadden by the loss of him, but she manages to pull herself together. This is a competition and she is here to win. She’ll dearly miss Neal, but she can’t let his elimination bring her down. Belle is determined to win Hell’s Kitchen, for herself, her father and now Neal Cassidy.

It’s 5:30 in the morning, as the final five competitors are asleep in their dorms. Chef Rumple Gold’s sous-chefs, Regina and Zelena Mills, storm into the rooms. “Get up, get up, get up !” Regina shouts in her megaphone, as Zelena bangs on her hand cymbals, terrifying everyone out of their sleep. “Get the fuck up !”

Belle jerks up and rolls out of bed, falling onto the floor. She’s never been awoken so aggressively. She crawls around the floor trying to find her shoes.

"Move it, bookworm !" Regina raises her voice over Zelena’s constant clanging on the cymbals. "Get dressed and down to the kitchen."

Zelena chimes the cymbals one last time, before both sous-chefs exit the dorms, as they laugh.

Belle takes a deep breath and tries to get her head on straight. She’s still half asleep and struggling to find her shoes.

"Here you go." Mulan drops Belle’s shoes in front of her.

Belle sighs in relief and looks up. “Thank you so much.”

"No problem. You should hurry up. I have a feeling today is going to be a long one."

Belle stands up and quickly puts on her chef jacket. “I will. I’ll see you in the kitchen.”

"Good luck today," Mulan says as she leaves the room.

Belle changes her pants and slips her shoes on, then hurries downstairs to meet up with everyone. She’s the last one to arrive, but she makes it in good time, as all of the competing chefs line up in the dining room.

Chef Gold stands before them, with his sous-chefs by his side. “Good morning everyone.” He smirks.

"Morning Chef." They all reply.

Chef Gold glances over them. “Belle.”

"Yes Chef?"

"You might want to tie your shoes, dearie."

"Oh." She looks down at her feet. "Thank you, Chef." She quickly ties her shoes.

"Now, today’s challenge is pasta," Gold announces.

Zelena heads out of the dining room and goes back to the kitchen. She returns, rolling in a table filled with everything needed to make and cook fresh pasta.

"You’ve all made handmade pasta before, right?" Gold addresses the competitors.

Everyone answers yes, except Ashely Boyd.

"You’ve never made pasta, Ashley?"

"Yes Chef, I have, but not fresh homemade pasta."

"Well, you better pay close attention, dearie. Because today I’m going to demonstrate." He pours semolina flour onto the table, shaping it into a well and cracks two eggs in the middle.

Most of the competitors are excited to watch Chef Gold’s demonstration. He’s a magician in the kitchen and an excellent teacher. Any cook would love to receive a lesson from a chef with his experience. The contestants closely observe everything Chef Gold shows them, but there’s one person who isn’t fascinated by the teachings of a master.

Victor Whale doesn’t think he needs the lesson. Instead of watching Chef Gold, Victor doodles recipes in his notebook.

"Victor," Gold calls.

"Yes Chef." He quickly looks up.

"Are you paying attention?"

"Yes, I am Chef," Victor lies through his teeth.

"What I’m showing you is something every chef needs to learn how to do. Even if you already know how, it’s always good to freshen up on the technique."

"I completely agree with you Chef," Victor replies.

"Then pay a-fucking-ttention, dearie."

Victor swiftly sits his notebook down.

Gold continues with his demonstration. He rolls and cuts out the dough with the pasta machine, then places the fresh pasta into boiling salted water. He prepares a creamy sauce with butter, herbs, garlic, cream and a splash of white wine, then let’s it reduce. When the pasta is ready, he tosses it in the sauce pan. “Always let the pasta finish cooking in the sauce,” Chef Gold states. He stirs it several times in the pan and plates the dish, finishing with a light dusting of fresh parmesan cheese. He immediately hands the plate over to Regina.

Regina takes the dish to the competing chefs, so everyone can have a taste.

Belle tastes Gold’s pasta and it’s simple bliss. She’s made a similar dish before, but hers never reached the majestic level of his.

Chef Gold waits for everyone to taste his dish. “I showed you one of my best pasta dishes, simple, beautiful and elegant. Now, I want to see yours. You have one hour to make me your best handmade pasta.” He looks at his watch. “Your cooking time starts…. Now !”

All five chefs run back to the kitchen.

Belle rushes over to the pantry and thinks about what to cook. She doesn’t want to make anything too complicated. Chef Gold demonstrated a simple dish, so she decides to follow his example. She gathers everything she needs for her spinach, ricotta and pine nut ravioli, then hurries back to her station to start cooking. She follows Gold’s exact pasta recipe, but she adds fresh herbs to the dough. She rolls out the dough, as Chef Gold begins making his rounds in the kitchen.

Gold stops at Jefferson Hatter’s station first. “What are you making?”

"It’s a rabbit tortellini, jerusalem artichoke puree, with a rabbit broth."

"Sounds complicated, dearie. You think you’re going to be able to finish in a hour?"

"Yes Chef, I do." Jefferson replies.

"Keep an eye on that rabbit, it’s easy to dry out."

"Thank you Chef."

Gold makes his way to Belle’s station. “You’re making stuffed pasta as well?”

"Yes Chef, It’s something simple, but flavorful. I didn’t want to make anything overly complexed." She answers.

Chef Gold smiles at her. “I can’t wait to taste it.” He walks away from her station and yells, “You all have thirty minutes.”

Ashely Boyd is struggling with her pasta dough. “Mine isn’t coming together. I don’t know what to do.”

Belle notices Ashely panicking. She’s a little bit ahead on time for her dish, so she dashes over to help Ashely. “What do you need?”

"The dough, it’s not coming together. I’ve never done this before."

Belle works with her crumbly dough, adding water and olive oil to bring it together. She kneads it for a minute and gives it back to Ashely. “It should be perfect now.”

"Thank you so much."

Belle smiles. “You should hurry, we don’t have much time.” She races back to her station.

"Fifteen minutes left. You all should be getting close to plating," Chef Gold announces.

Belle drops her raviolis in salted water, then begins her brown butter and sage sauce. With five minutes remaining, she removes her pasta from the water and adds it to the sauce. She swirls it in the pan and squeezes in lemon juice just before plating. She finishes the dish with a sprinkle of romano cheese and a fried sage leaf as the garnish. With just seconds left, she makes it to the expediting station and quickly sits her plate under the silver dome.

The five chefs stand before Gold, anxiously awaiting for him to taste their dishes.

"I will be tasting everyone’s pasta, but I won’t be judging them. That job is reserved for Chef Marco Geppetto, head chef and owner of the restaurant Puppet Boy."

Chef Geppetto enters Hell’s Kitchen and shakes Gold’s hand.

"Ready to taste some delicious pasta?" Gold asks Chef Geppetto.

"I am a master pasta maker and taster. I can’t wait to try them," Geppetto replies in his thick Italian accent.

Together both expert chefs taste through all five of the competitors pasta dishes. They enjoy Victor Whale’s pasta with mussels in a creamy pesto sauce. Belle’s ravioli and Mulan’s Chinese brisket with turnip noodle soup also received lots of praises. But Jefferson and Ashely’s dishes don’t go over very well.

Ashely’s spicy parmesan shrimp pasta is under seasoned, pasta is thick and undercooked.

Jefferson’s rabbit is dry and the dish is incomplete.

"What a fucking shame. Those could have been perfect dishes," Gold says and looks over to Geppetto. "We’ve had some stunning pasta dishes. Which one do you think is the winner?"

"This is a tough one Chef Gold, but I’ll have to say the winner is… The spinach ravioli. It was simple with classic flavors and very, very well executed."

Belle is stunned. She can’t believe that she just won the challenge. “Oh, thank you, thank you so much,” she says with the brightest smile.

"This just proves that the simplest things can be the most extraordinary. Congratulations dearie."

"Thank you Chef," she excitingly replies.

Chef Gold turns to Geppetto. “Thank you for coming in and being our judge today.”

"You’re very welcome, I had fun." Chef Geppetto shakes Gold’s hand, waves bye to the contestants and leaves Hell’s Kitchen.

Gold turns to face the contestants. “For winning today’s challenge, you are in for a real treat, Belle. You are going on a one thousand dollar shopping spree in Beverly Hills, dine at Chef Geppetto’s restaurant Puppet Boy and you get to do it all with me.”

"Thank you, Chef !" Belle can’t stop smiling.

"You should head up and get ready dearie."

Belle giggles, rushing up to the dorm rooms and prepare for her day with Chef Gold.

Gold addresses the loosing chefs. “Hell’s Kitchen will be opening and tonight is pasta night. You will be spending the day making fresh pasta that we will be using. You will also clean the dorm room and prep the kitchen for tonight’s dinner service. Now fuck off. You have a long day ahead of you.”

The remaining four chefs disappointingly head upstairs and prepare for their hard day.

Belle takes a shower, does her hair and makeup, and puts on her favorite yellow dress. With the fast pace of the competition, she haven’t had time to do anything for herself. Spending the day outside of the kitchen is something she desperately needed.

The phone in the dorm rings and Ashely answers it. “Yes Chef.” She sits the phone down. “Belle, the phone is for you,” she calls out. “The rest of us have to go down to the kitchen.”

Belle steps out of the bathroom and answers the phone. “Hello.” She listens for a moment. “Yes, I’m almost ready, I’ll be right down.” She hangs up.

"Congratulations Belle, have a good time today." Mulan says just before heading to the kitchen.

"Thank you," Belle replies and steps back into he bathroom. She cleans up her makeup from the sink, slips on her heels and checks herself in the mirror, before going down to meet Chef Gold in his office.

Belle nervously stands outside of Gold’s office. She highly respects him and wants to make a good impression, but she also just wants to have fun. She takes a deep breath, shakes off her nerves and knocks on the door.

"Come in dearie," he answers in his calm Scottish accent.

Belle opens the door and walks in. She sees Chef Gold sitting at his desk signing papers, wearing an all black suit with a pink tie. Belle has never seen him out of his white chef’s jacket. She thinks he looks more handsome than before.

He looks up at her and smiles. “You think you can spend a thousand dollars today?”

"I don’t know Chef, but I can try."

He opens his desk drawer, pulls out a card and hands it to her. “You can spend it however you like.” He stands from the desk.

"Thank you Chef."

He walks from behind the desk and offers her his arm. “You don’t have to call me chef today. Rumple is perfectly fine.”

"Okay Chef…. I mean Rumple." She takes his arm and he leads her out of the office.

They walk out of Hell’s Kitchen and Chef Gold’s black cadillac is waiting for them outside. He opens the door for her and she steps in. He sits in the divers seat, starts the car and drives to the Beverly Hills shopping district. “Just tell me where you’d like to go. There’s a lot of beautiful dress shops in Beverly Hills.”

"I have lots of dresses. I don’t think I need another one."

"Oh, I see. You’re looking for something else."

"Back home, I live in a small apartment above the town library and well, I really need some good cooking equipment."

Gold smirks. “If you win the competition, you won’t be living in that small apartment anymore.”

"Yes, I know, but I’ll still need cooking tools for my new home here."

"Fair enough. I know the perfect place to take you."

Belle smiles at him, trying her best to hold in her excitement.

"You can turn the radio on if you like." Chef Gold offers.

"Oh no, I enjoy talking to you."

"I enjoy talking to you as will Miss French." He makes a left turn and drives up to the little boutique shop Charming Pots.

"Is this the place ?" she asks.

"Yes." He opens his door and steps out.

Belle quickly exists the car with him. “Oh, this place is so cute.”

"You’ll be able to find anything you need here." He places his hand on her back and leads her in.

Inside the shop, their greeted my the owner. “Welcome,” the man says. “Chef Gold, it’s always a pleasure to see you.” He offers his hand.

Gold shakes his hand. “Always great you see you as well Mr. Nolan.” He turns to Belle. “This is Belle French, one of the contestants of Hell’s Kitchen. She won a shopping spree, so I brought her to the best kitchen supply shop in town.”

"Congratulations, let me show you around the shop." Mr. Nolan guides her to the cutlery.

Gold slowly follows behind them.

Belle sees the knife set she’s always wanted, but could never afford and it’s the first thing she buys.

Mr. Nolan takes the set to the register.

Belle and Gold continue to look around the shop.

"What about these, every chef needs these." Gold slips on a pair of crocodile oven mitten and playfully snaps at Belle’s nose with them.

She giggles, pulling the mittens off of his hands and puts them on. “Hmm, I don’t know, are they me?” She models the mittens.

Gold’s eyes are fixed on the expression on her face. He’s never noticed how adorable she was. “They look perfect on you dearie.”

"Why thank you Rumple." She snickers. "You know, I think I’ll get them."

They go through the shop together picking up serval more items including a toaster oven, stand mixer, and a set of pot and pans. They fill Mr. Nolan’s counter with a thousand dollars worth of kitchen supplies.

Belle pulls out her shopping card and pays for all of the items. “I’ve never spent this much in one place before.”

"How does it feel?" Gold asks.

"Amazing."

They smile and gaze at each other.

Mr. Nolan clears his throat. “Will you be needing any help taking this out to the car ?”

"Oh !" Belle quickly faces Mr. Nolan. "Yes, I guess we will."

"Killian ?" Mr. Nolan calls.

A man with a prosthesis hand steps out of the room behind the counter. “Yes, sir ?”

"I’m going to need you to help me take their things out to the car," Mr. Nolan says.

"Yes sir," Killain replies and Gold hands him the car keys.

As Mr. Nolan and Killian carry the items out to the car, Belle and Chef Gold take one last look around the shop.

"A lot of shopping can really make you hungry."

"Well, it’s a good thing we have that reservation at Puppet Boy," Gold says.

"I can’t wait to taste Chef Geppetto’s cooking. I’ve studied his work for my cookbooks and entries in my food blog."

"The man is a genius." Gold feels a tap on his shoulder and turns around.

"Chef Gold, I’m sorry to interrupt, but we’ve finished loading your car." Mr. Nolan hands Gold back his keys.

"Thank you Mr. Nolan." Gold shakes his hand.

"You two enjoy the rest of the afternoon." Mr. Nolan heads to the back room of his shop.

"Well, are you ready for lunch Miss French?"

"Yes."

They head to the door of the shop and he opens it for her. “After you.”

"Thank you," she replies.

They get into Gold’s car and he drives them to Chef Geppetto’s restaurant.

When they arrive at the restaurant, they’re seated at their reserved table and greeted by the head chef.

Chef Geppetto presents them with his special menu they will be dining on.

"Everything looks incredible, Chef Geppetto." Belle compliments his menu.

"Thank you, I hope you enjoy." Geppetto pours the wine and goes back into the kitchen.

Belle picks up her glass and taste the wine. “I love this wine.”

"Yes, it’s one of the best and one of my favorites."

"I’ve never tasted it before today."

Gold laughs to himself. “Oh, I see.”

The server brings out their dishes and places them on the table.

Belle picks up her glass and raises it. “Cheers.”

Gold smiles and touches his glass to hers. “Cheers.”

They both sip their wine and begin eating their lunch.

"I knew this would be delicious, but I didn’t expect it to be insane." Belle giggles.

"Chef Geppetto is a master, simply one of the best."

"I couldn’t agree with you more, Rumple."

He tilts his head, looking at Belle. “I’ve noticed something you haven’t done.”

A curious expression lights on her face. “What’s that?”

"Every time I go on these trips with contestants, they usually pick my brain for a strategy on how to win. You dearie, you haven’t asked me one thing about the game."

She smiles brightly. “To tell you the truth, I didn’t want to think about the completion while I was out of the kitchen today. It can be so stressful and I already think about it constantly. Besides that, I have my own strategy to win.”

"What strategy is that?"

"By being the best, which I already am." She grins.

"There’s no denying your talents in the kitchen."

"Thank you, Rumple." She sips her wine.

"There’s something else I’ve noticed. This doesn’t feel like any of the other trips I’ve been on either. Somehow it just feels different."

"Really?" She asks.

"Yes, I just don’t know what it is."

She giggles and raises her glass.

Chef Gold smirks and touched his glass to hers again.

After finishing their lunch, they head back to Hell’s Kitchen. Standing outside the restaurant, Gold opens the car door for Belle for the last time. “I’ll have all of your equipment delivered up to the dorm.”

"Thank you Chef, I had an amazing time with you." She extends her hand to shake his.

But instead of shaking her hand, he kisses it.

She shyly smiles and walks up the stairs, returning back to the competition.

Hours later, Belle and the other contestants prepare their stations for dinner service. In the middle of setting up her station, Belle suddenly realizes that her day with Chef Gold felt exactly like a date. She’s taken aback by this realization and thinks about her actions during the day. She certainly wasn’t trying to flirt with him and would never use her sexuality to try to win. Belle is now worried about her position in the competition and desperately needs to speak with Chef Gold. When Gold enters the kitchen, Belle quickly rushes over to him. “Chef, I really need to talk to you.”

"Is it something that can wait, dearie ? We’re opening soon."

"Yes Chef, it can wait."

Chef Gold takes his place at the expediting station. “Everybody, line up !”

All the contestants stand before the chef.

"Tonight is pasta night in Hell’s Kitchen and I want everyone to show me their best. Someone is going home tonight, don’t let that person be you."

"Yes Chef," the five contestants reply.

"We’ll also be serving a VIP guest at the chefs table. Pop princess, Ruby Lucas, will be joining us tonight."

"Wow !" Victor Whale says in excitement.

"Put your tongue back in your mouth dearie. We all know she’s a fox." Gold laughs.

"With all do respect Chef, she’s more like a wolf." Victor replies.

Gold smirks, raising his eyebrow and continues is announcement. “She’ll be treating her grandmother for dinner. Everything for that table needs to be perfect. Now, to your stations.”

All the competitors head to their stations.

Chef Gold turns to the head waiter. “Archibald Hopper, open up Hell’s Kitchen.”


End file.
